“I did not think you were the sort of person who enjoyed glossy Temthan magazines, Relkir!”
Relkir regularly got check-ins from the Master of Generals, mostly because Relkir was a non-Below Twenty General working in a Below Twenty building, but also because the Master of Generals was still wary of Relkir. However, occasionally, they would get check-ins from Ritlir, the General of Internal Hidden Affairs as well.
Internal Hidden Affairs covered a mixture of things, but some of the Legion’s duties overlapped with both that of the 100th Legion, while also partially acting as the accessible level of the Rethavok’s main intelligence division. Being the General of such a Legion was an insanely stressful job, which was why the previous 11th Legion General was a former assassin with telepathy, two of the three former leaders were also former assassins and ran covert operations and before that were and the third was considered one of the smartest Rethans to ever live.
Relkir rolled their eyes as they put the magazine down and turned to greet Ritlir.
“What do you want?”
Ritlir could tell that Relkir was in a bad mood. Then again, Ritlir knew that Relkir didn’t particularly like them. Sure, Relkir was an honourable Rethan, but years of being belittled by others meant that Relkir could often come across as cold and somewhat asocial.
“I think you know why I am here!” Ritlir smiled. Ritlir was the polar opposite of Relkir. Always cheery, no matter what. And they were particularly cheery now that their tail had fully regrown, after losing part of it during the Sudden Darkness. “Check-ins, as always!”
“I do not understand why you come and do these in person.”
“I have no reason to send an underling. And I enjoy talking to my fellow Generals. You are one of them now. But I do realise I have come at a bad time. Is something wrong?”
Relkir sighed some more. “Yes, but it is a Sinic issue I do not wish to talk about with a colleague.”
That smile on Ritlir’s face got worse. Relkir suddenly realised why. Ritlir used to worship the Allbirther, and Relkir using the old fashioned word “Sinic” to more delicately describe their problems had caught Ritlir’s attention.
“Oh? Is it something I can assist with?”
“Oh, you… still worship the Allbirther?”
“Somewhat. I more pay my respects to the Love Bringer these days, while also enacting Her will. The same way you pay your respects to the Oath Keeper. And, considering you are reading a glossy Temthan magazine, I assume you are having issues of a sexual nature.”
Relkir took a deep breath to settle themselves down. Ritlir meant well. Maybe they could help. No one else had been able to help so far. And Ritlir at least knew to keep quiet when needed. With a sigh, Relkir began to start talking.
“I did not think conceiving would be so frustrating.”
Ritlir smiled. “Silly question, but have you tried taking-”
“Do not make that joke.”
“Oh…” By Relkir’s tone and response, Ritlir knew to change their own tone. “There is no shame in seeing a specialist.”
“I got myself checked out.”
“Yes, but, and please do not take this the wrong way, you married the Keeper. Someone who was shot thirty times while going Defensive Stance about an hour after laying an egg. I do not think you are the one who needs checking out.”
“I am going to be the mother though.”
Ritlir shrugged. “It does not matter. The system is interconnected for us, as we are intersex beings. You cut out our testes, we can go completely infertile because our ovaries are right next door. Gath will probably need to get themselves checked out to see if they are infertile or not.”
“That… is going to be hard to do…” Relkir frowned. “Gath is… embarrassed by these things.”
“Then go together. You are less shy. If anyone asks, Gath is accompanying you because you are embarrassed, even if it is the opposite. Reading those glossy mags is not going to help you with what might be a medical issue.”
Relkir grunted, then flicked the magazine across the table. “I do not understand why these magazines are so popular.”
Ritlir shrugged some more. “Well, they ARE meant for Temthans. They are mostly sexually satisfied, but there is definitely a noticeable collection of Temthans who are not getting it as much as they would like. And there is also the belief that romance is a battlefield and a competition, something to be won. That is not true at all, but it is a primal urge inside many beings, because of the Sinic desire to pass our genetics on.”
“You though seem to be… falling behind on that aspect…”
Ritlir eyed Relkir. “Are you making a comment about how I have not passed on my genetics yet?”
“You have always pushed for relationships between others. You helped Gath and I get together, you and Kuta nudged Rethais into dating Lysar. You have paired up quite a few vok around here. But you are still single.”
“Well, unfortunately, I was not laid complete, so instead, I make sure others can do what I cannot, as Sini would have intended. I am not bothered though. I am still young, I can have pretty much anyone I want should I choose, and I can always adopt later on if needed…” Ritlir trailed off, then picked up the glossy magazine and flicked through it. After a moment, they smiled. “A lot of this stuff is nonsense and not applicable to Rethans, but I do recommend trying out any sex positions they suggest.”
“Uh… why?”
“Because Gath is so tall and you are vertically challenged, you could actually do a lot of these fancier ones, since female Temthans are much smaller than male Temthans. Probably will not do much to help you get egg-ridden, but you might find something you overly enjoy.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
“Somewhat…” Ritlir trailed off again. “Hmph. I do not actually recall if there was a reason I was here aside from my normal check-in. You are not having any work-based issues, are you?”
Relkir relaxed a little. “Everything has been going well here in the 99th Legion. You would be the first to know if things were not going well… Actually, you would probably be the third to know, after Rethais and General Vaksavar… You get what I mean.”
“I do, yes!” Ritlir went back to smiling as they got up, taking the magazine with them. “If you do have any problems, you know where to find me. Have a good day, Relkir.”
“You too, Ritlir…”